IL97946A - Controller for coordination of electric emergency supply - Google Patents

Description

CONTROLLER FOR COORDINATION OF ELECTRIC EMERGENCY SUPPLY The Applicants :- 1. N.V.O. EMERGENCY ELECTRIC nm mmya . I.HVJ .1 SUPPLY 1988 Ltd. n"y 1988 ¾£)it>>n 3/7 Heharoshet St. 3/7 nenmn iim Industrial Area n'Kiynn ιη>κ Kiryat Bialik. p^r a-mip 2. Haim NEVO .2 15, Harmonim St. o'amiyn mm Kiryat Bialik. .p>i»N»:--m*ip \ CONTROLLER FOR COORDINATION OF ELECTRIC EMERGENCY SUPPLY.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a controller for mounting on an electric circuit panel of a domestic supply system, adapted to indicate interruption of current from the public supply and to prevent damage to the emergency > supply apparatus by current reappearing after the interruption. It relates particularly to a controller serving to operate a contactor mounted on the circuit panel with the object of automatically breaking the connection of the public supply to the various cicuits in a building.

Most of the larger institutions, such as hospitals, banks, industrial plants and the like have installed emergency power supply to be started either manually or automatically upon failure of the public supply; there are generally installed circuit breakers serving to interrupt the connection between the supply and the consumer circuits and to re-instal it after renewal of the central power supply. In addition to these there exist many small consumers who would severely suffer by temporary cutting-off of power, such as shops, hairdressers, offices, small workshops and many others, and who are interested to instal an emergency supply in the form of a small generator driven by an internal combustion engine using liquid or gaseous fuel. In general this generator would be chosen so as to feed those appliances and apparatus important to the continuation of work, in addition to lighting of the premises, while other machinery or apparatus could be left unoperative until re-establishment of the central supply. In many such cases there exists the danger that the customer forgets to switch off the public supply from his own circuitry and that the sudden renewed power supply reaches the emergency generator causing considerable damage to the windings and other components, thereof.

Likewise, the renewed current supply would not be noticed by the consumer, unless he is informed by a special signal enabling him to switch off the emergency supply and to re-establish the connection to the public supply.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the main object of the invention to provide and instal a controller which will automatically cause the relevant circuits to be disconnected from the public supply as soon as power is cut off, and to prevent them from being reconnected before the emergency supply has been switched off.

It is a further object to provide such controller of small dimensions so as to permit its mounting on the fuse panel.

It is still another object to provide a controller having standard components to effect a low price.

Still another object is to provide a foolproof controller which will withstand frequent interruptions of the main supply without deterioration.

And it is a final object to provide a controller which can be readily installed and connected without special tools or skill of the person installing it.

The circuit panel of the installation is provided with a main circuit breaker adapted to disconnect all or a part of the connected circuits during interruption of the main electric supply and to be controlled by the controller of the invention. In the following the circuits to be disconnected and to be supplied from the emrgency supply will, for short, be called "emergency circuits" The controller according to the invention comprises at least three relay-operated switching devices operative during failure of the public supply for actuating the main circuit breaker to disconnect the main from a number of predesignated circuits, for connecting the thus disconnected circuits to an emergency supply in the form of a generator or storage batteries, and for preventing reactivation of the main circuit breaker before the emergency supply is disconnected from these circuits. The controller contains at least seven terminals for connection to various circuit points on the main panel, of which two are connected to the main supply and two to the emergency supply; two additional terminals connect the controller to the main circuit breaker, while the remaining terminal connects the controller to the neutral wire circuit. The controller includes at least three control circuits each containing a relay switch or contactor. A first circuit is connected to the main supply and contains the main circuit breaker and a normally closed, relay-operated switch to be opened by interruption of the main supply. A second circuit is likewise connected to the main supply and contains a relay-operated, normally open switch connecting the neutral wire of the emergency supply to the neutral of the emergency circuits. And a third circuit is connected to the emergency supply and contains a normally closed relay-operated switch keeping the first circuit open as long as the emergency supply is active, thus preventing the main circuit breaker from being closed by the main voltage and from connecting the emergency circuits to the main supply. An indicator lamp is preferably positioned in the first circuit to be extinguished by interruption of supply; another indicator lamp is positioned in the third circuit of the emergency supply and is preferably connected to the supply by a switch operated by the relay in the first circuit.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a circuitry diagram of the controller, Figure 2 shows diagrammatically the position of the controller of Figure 1 on a circuit panel and its connection to the various points thereof, Figure 3 is a diagram similar to that of Figure 3, but showing only part of the domestic circuits supplied by an emergency supply, and Figure 4 shows a wiring diagram of a domestic installation provided with a generator set as emergency supply.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figures 1 and 2 show the circuit of the controller which is positioned in a housing provided with seven terminals numbered 1 to 7, and its installation on a circuit panel. The terminals are connected to points on the panel as follows:- Nos.l and 2 to the main supply, Nos.3 and 4 to the emergency supply, Nos.5 and 6 to the main circuit breaker CI on the panel, serving to disconnect all circuits from the main supply, and No.7 is connected to the neutral side of the circuits on the panel. As shown in Figure 1, conductors I, II, III and IV connect the components of the controller to the panel as follows :-two relay switches or contactors 10 and 11 are operated by the main supply by being connected to lines I and II, while a third relay 12 is operated by current of the emergency supply via lines III and IV. Switch 10 is kept closed by the main supply current connecting the neutral line II to the neutral side of the circuits on the panel via line III and terminal 7 and disconnects line II of the main supply from the neutral of the circuits, as soon as the main supply is interrupted, but leaves line III of the emrgency supply connected to terminal 7.

Relay 11 operates two switches 11a and lib, the former being normally open and the second normally closed as long as the main supply is active. In this position switch lib connects the main supply to the circuit breaker CI via lines I and II and terminals 5 and 6, and breaks the connection upon failure of the main supply. Switch 11a is open during the main supply and closes a circuit from the emergency supply to an indicator lamp 13 as soon as the main supply is stopped. This lamp lights up when the emergency supply is "on" . A second indicator lamp 14 is positioned in the circuit containing relay switch 11 which lights as long as the main supply exists and extinguishes together with this supply. This lamp informs the user of the presence of main supply and warns him that it has stopped.

The third relay switch or contactor 12 is opened by the emergency supply energizing the relay and prevents the relay 11 from being energized by the returning main supply before the emergency supply has not been switched off. Switch 12 closes the circuit to the relay 11 after its closure and allows the switch lib to be closed and the main circuit breaker CI to be energized so as to reconnect the panel circuits to the main supply. A timer TO prevents immediate activation of CI in all cases where an accidental short interruption of the emergency supply would otherwise cause damage by simultaneous working of the emergency and the main supply.

Figure 2 shows the connection of the terminals 1 to 7 of the controller to the points on the panel and illustrates that the circuit breaker CI disconnects the entire electric installation from the main supply, while the controller connects it to the emergency supply via terminals 3 and 4.

Figure 3 shows a modification of the installation of the controller in all cases where the emergency supply would not be sufficient to supply energy to all circuits in the building. In this case only three circuits (on the right side of the diagram) would be disconnected by a circuit breaker C, while those on the left side of the diagram would remain connected to the main supply. The connection of all terminals is clearly indicated and does not require any further explanation. The controller casing shows an additonal terminal (8) which may be connected to a measuring instrument such as a voltmeter.

The controller of the invention is most suitable for small installations wherein the emergency supply is in the form of a small generator set which may be attached to any socket of one of the emergency circuits. Figure 4 shows the connection of such a generator set to any socket in any of the three emergency circuits in the diagram. Herein, as in Figure 3, only three circuits are disconnected from the main supply by means of circuit breaker CI, while three circuits remain connected thereto.

It will be understood that the arrangement of the components of the controller may be varied as long as the task of separating the main supply from the emergency supply is safely performed. The aforegoing description contains three relay switches or contactors which operate four different switches, and these could be readily operated by four different contactors which should be suitably normally open or closed as the case demands. The outlay of the circuits may be different, again as long as the desired operation is maintained.

Claims (6)

C L A I M S :

1. A controller for coordination of an electric emergency,, supply^ during failure of a main electric supply mounted on or close to a circuit panel of an electric installation, wherein said panel is provided with a main circuit jureaker^ serving to disconnect all or a part of the circuits connected to said circuit panel , said controller comprising relay operated switching means serving to disconnect said main circuit breaker from the live conductor of said main supply, disconnect the neutral conductor j>f said main supply from the neutral side of said disconnected circuits, prevent re-connection of said main circuit breaker to said main supply before disconnection of said emergency supply from said disconnected circuits.

2. The controller as defined by Claim 1 comprising additional switching means serving to connect an indicating lamp into the circuit of said emergency supply to light up as long as said emergency supply is connected to said circuits.

3. The controller as defined in Claim 1 comprising an indicating lamp in said main supply circuit to be extinguished as soon as said main supply is interrupted and to be lighted upon re-appearance of said main supply serving to permit disconnection of said emergency supply.

4. The controller as defined in Claim 1 comprising a timer in the line connecting the main supply to said main circuit breaker serving to delay re-connection of said circuit breaker to said supply in case of a short interruption of said emergency supply.

5. The controller as defined in any of the preceding claims provided with seven terminals for connection to various points on said circuit panel, whereof two terminals serve for connection to said main supply, two terminals for connection to said emergency supply, two terminals for connection to said main circuit breaker, and one terminal for connection to the neutral side of said disconnected circuits.

6. The controller for coordination of an electric emergency supply during interruption of an electric main supply substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the acompanying diagrams. FOR THE APPLICANTS,